Unexpected Find (Legion)

[Antera]

"Legion..." her voice dropped to a whisper, eyes darting around the room as she took a single step backwards down the steps, "Get back to the steps. Now."

Her own breathing quickened, her mind still struggling to refocus after the trauma of the dark side clawing through her senses. Glowlamp held high in her left hand, her right instinctively closed around the grip of her blaster and drew the weapon from its holster. Another step, and her head turned from side to side, eyes scanning the room for anything at all in the looming darkness around her. One breath. Two. She saw nothing, but the hiss grew louder, accompanied by the shifting of stones.

Right or left... right or left...

She shifted her aim from side to side, but in the echoing chamber she couldn't isolate where the sound was coming from.

Don't think. Don't think.

She gripped the weapon more tightly, clenching her teeth as she reached out through the Force. It was here. Whatever it was, it was here somewhere. She could find it. Even in the occluding gloom of the dark side, it had to be...

There.

She squeezed the trigger. A blaster bolt lanced out into the dark and impacted with a blast and sizzle. Three glowing red slits appeared in the darkness, expanding into a trio of orbs, two set above the third in an inverted triangle. A primal roar filled her ears and shook the walls in response.

Antera turned and ran for the stairs, grabbing Legion's elbow and dragging the girl along with her.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

Legion tried to respond. Truly, she did. Unfortunately, all that emerged from her parted lips was a shrill, rather pathetic little, "Eeeee!"

Fortunately, however, she was able to follow Antera's instructions, stumbling backwards towards the foot of the stairs despite the blind terror numbing her body. Her eyes raked frantically through the darkness in a desperate attempt to find the creature that her Chiss companion was aiming for. It was fruitless and she was in no state to focus.

The sound of the blaster going off made her wince, but the roar made her freeze. The girl couldn't think, much less move, so it was a blessing when Antera grabbed her - it brought her back to the moment and she did the only thing she could think of.

She screamed. Shrieked, really. Her head fell back and in her mind, she cried out for help. Almost as soon as she'd had the thought, help arrived.

A segment of the arch broke away with a grating rumble, marble dust exploding outwards as the modestly-sized stone fragment sailed towards the glowing slits in the darkness. It smacked into flesh - or something like it - with a sickening thud, though the beast only unleashed another ferocious roar. The sound caused an involuntary shudder to course through Legion's thin frame.

Now it was really angry.

[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

The chiss didn't see the strike, but she certainly heard it. She even felt a few fragments of rock pepper her back and shoulders as the pair began the run back up the curving stairway. In a smaller, still analytic even in these circumstances, part of her mind, she was impressed. Unfortunately the effect of the chunk of stone had been the exact opposite of what was intended. The beast with the three glowing eyes slithered and scraped past the altar and began rapidly closing the distance between them.

Holding tight to Legion's arm, Antera aimed back over her shoulder and squeezed off a few more bolts towards the creature. She didn't pause to aim, but with the growing intensity of the snarling on their heels she could only assume that either the Force had guided her aim, or it was simply too large to miss.

She tried not to think too hard on the latter possibility.

She clenched her teeth and reached out for her power, pushing herself up the steps with a burst of speed. Fingers dug into Legion's arm as they were, she was going to make sure the sithspawn kept up with her even if she had to drag her part of the way.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

"Ahh!" Legion whimpered, forcing herself to bring her focus back towards the top of the stairs rather than staring into the eyes of the beast that pursued them. Her feet moved automatically, the adrenaline coursing through her body assuring that she was moving as fast as she was able. Naturally, that wasn't as fast as what [member="Antera"] could muster, and in some part of her mind the girl was a bit dumbfounded at the other woman's strength and presence of mind.

The rest of her mind, however, was entirely focused on navigating the stairs while being dragged. The slight pain of the Chiss's grip seemed like an afterthought amidst the terrifying slithering and snarling of the creature that was hot on their heels.

It had been here all this time and she never would have known. Chills ran down her spine at the thought, but there certainly wasn't time to dwell on it, not when she was barely able to feel her feet land as her companion all but forced her up the steps at breakneck speeds.

 

[Antera]

The stones rushed past in a blur as Antera rounded another corner of the steps. The creature on their heels gnashed unseen teeth and continued to give chase. Distressingly, she could hear the cracking and breaking of stones as it pursued them, accompanied by the repeated thuds of a large mass impacting on the walls and steps. Another roar bellowed upwards, but when daylight finally greeted them once more, her feet moved with a renewed burst of speed.

The doors.

They stood open at the top of the final, straight length of steps, just as they'd been left. Telekinesis was not her strongest skill, but maybe if they were fortunate...

She lifted her free hand, continuing her run as she desperately reached out for a grip on the solid stone entryway. The inward opening doors slowly, painfully slowly, began to shut.

Almost there. Almost there.

Her grip on Legion's arm refused to release. She pulled the girl along with her, step by step. The doors slid closer together, the light coming through the gap diminishing further with every moment.

The light exploded, filling her vision as she surged past the door, young sithspawn girl in tow. She dug her heels in, turning and guiding Legion behind herself while he spun to face the door and re-assert her hold on it. Only a meter left to go. She nearly had it.

Centimeter by centimeter, it crept shut, but the unholy slithering and stomping continued to pursue, three red eyes just visible in the dark.

Thirty cenimeters. Twenty.

The door stopped at ten.

Writhing tendrils of living shadows pooled through the opening, curling around the edge of the door and pulling it open, overwhelming the chiss's own powers easily. The doorway crept back open, and only darkness waited on the other side. An inky blackness that appeared as a literal absence of reflected light, with no surface beyond three large glowing eyes and a maw of misshapen fangs.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

It took all of Legion's concentration to keep herself upright and moving at a high enough speed that the blue-skinned woman ahead of her wasn't outright having to drag her. A hand instictively went out to steady herself against the temple wall, her claws just barely making contact as the pair raced away from the horror below.

"Eh!" she whimpered as they burst through the door, pivoting on her heel and nearly falling over as [member="Antera"] placed herself between the girl and the monster. The light, the roaring and snarling, the rumbling of the stone from the creature's weight forcefully gnashing against it, so similar to the frenzied grinding of teeth on a massive scale; the sithspawn's senses were entirely overwhelmed. Worse still, she was helpless against the creature and she knew it.

All the same, she couldn't stand by and do nothing while the Chiss, a virtual stranger to her, put her life on the line to defend her. Legion's eyes scanned the ground for something, anything that could be used as a weapon, and she scrambled over to grasp the craggy hilt of a stone lightsaber that had shattered and fallen away from one of the impassive statues lining the temple. As she lifted it in a clumsy stance, staggering from the weight of the improvised weapon, the doors shut - well, almost. A wave of relief washed over her and she heard herself exhale a breath.

We... we'll be all right...

...except that the monster impacted against it only seconds later, easily parting the doors once more. The horrific sight of the shadowy mass made the girl shudder, a fresh wave of terror instantly washing over her, but her expression shifted to a determined scowl as she wiggled her stony club towards the glowing eyes.

As if to punctuate the pathetic display, a few small chips of rubble whizzed towards the blackness.

Plink. Plink. Plink plink.

Hopefully Antera had a plan. Otherwise this was going to get downright embarrassing.

 

[Antera]

The doors pulled open and Antera retreated, giving up ground and opening the distance between herself and the beast. Only the vaguest outline of the creature was visible, a long serpentine body, two powerful limbs ending in wide bestial paws, and a thick skull surrounded by a wriggling mass of forearm thick tendrils. Even in broad daylight, there was no detail or texture, only an utter absence of light in the space it occupied.

Antera placed her palm on Legion's shoulder, pushing the sithspawn back with her as she fought for any semblence of a plan, blaster leveled at the creature's mouth. The small pebbles impacting on its skin elicited another roar from the monster, tendrils of slime and drool flapping on its fangs with the force of the sound. With heavy, stone shaking thuds it began to stomp towards them.

In some small part of her mind, Antera incredulously began to wonder just where Legion had found the stone saber replica and pebbles.

The stones.

Backing up further from the advancing creature, her eyes darted aside and found the piles of rock she'd left behind after clearing the passage, and felt the shaking in the floor and shattered walls with every step the beast took.

The chamber. It's under us. This whole place is hollow.

Desperately, she pushed Legion further down the hall and stood her ground. She tossed the pistol aside and, focused by the sheer danger she was in, reached out with the Force to grip two massive chunks of rock that appeared to have once been part of the ceiling. She silently stared the beast down, praying that her hunch was right as the distance between herself and the monster rapidly shrank.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

The sight of the beast was truly something gruesome to behold. Even being raised by a Sith, Legion certainly wasn't prepared to see something so vicious, something that the light seemed to shrink away from. Antera's touch at her shoulder made the girl shriek, the sound ending abruptly as she stumbled backwards, realizing that the Chiss wanted her to retreat. She looked from [member="Antera"] to the beast, frantically wondering what the resolute woman intended, yet her voice simply refused to escape as anything other than a panting gasp. It didn't help that her lungs burned from their frenzied flight up the stairs.

To show her solidarity, however, she kept her replica saber hefted, the weight already causing her arms to ache.

Miss Antera, I am so sorry... this is all my fault...

Despite obediently backing up, she continued to face down the approaching monster, mustering all the courage she had left. If it lunged, she would strike. She had to.

 

[Antera]

With every stomp of its feet and drag of its elongated body, the creature shook more dust free from the walls of the building. Antera could feel the rumble in the stones beneath her feet. Her mind tightly gripping the shattered pieces of ceiling, she shut her eyes. Even with them shut, she could feel the primal rage and hunger those burning eyes carried. The terror rising in her gut just from knowing it was so close, nevermind what would happen if it...

Focus.

Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.

It drew closer to her, meters away, and she did not move. The stones raised higher and the monster bore down on her.

NOW.

She let forth a wordless shout, and with every bit of power she could muster hurled the rocks downwards. The beast's foot hit the floor, shaking the walls once more as the great chunks of stone impacted not the creature, but the stonework of the floor less than a half meter from its landing paw. The combined force send a massive 'THUD' resounding through the hallway, nearly threatening to send the chiss off her feet. The stonework cracked and splintered. The beast recoiled, something in its simple mind recognizing the threat it was suddenly under far too late.

The spiderweb of fissures spread back towards the creature's bulk, and all at once gave way, a great gap opening at its feet. With a howl, it tumbled, almost floating in space for a split second before rapidly following the crumbling masonry downwards.

Antera fell forward onto her knees, gasping for breath.

The floor's condition did not stabalize.

Get up.

She grit her teeth, sliding backwards away from the slowly expanding hole in the floor, shakily pulling her legs under herself.

Get up. This place isn't safe.

She scrambled upright, taking slow, steady steps away from the expanding edge of the gap she'd opened to the temple below.

"[member="Legion"] ... we need to go. Right now."

 

[Legion]

The creature approached and yet [member="Antera"] was still. Why wasn't she moving? Panic rose inside of Legion even as the stones raised higher, yellow eyes darting from Chiss to stone to monster and back. The girl took a tentative step forward, extending a hand towards the other woman. She'd just opened her mouth to ask what was wrong when--

CRACK.

Legion toppled forward, barely able to catch herself on the stone saber she held, propping herself up with it before it clattered onto the floor. Her head raised just enough to watch the creature tumble through the destroyed floor, her eyes widening in surprise. The chiss's clever application of power once again rendered her speechless, though she swallowed hard, giving a dumbfounded nod as the other woman spoke.

Once she found her voice again, it feebly cracked, "Miss A-Antera, where--" And then it hit her, her head jerking upwards. "My b-bugs! I have to s-save them!"

The urgency in her tone was unmistakable. She and the Chiss had been mere moments away from certain death and yet her concern had shifted ... to her bug collection. Before her companion could protest, she was sprinting back towards the terrarium, determined to save at least one fragment of her life from permanently collapsing along with this ruin.

 

[Antera]

Her bugs.

The walls were shaking, whatever beast had plunged into the ritual chamber below continued to thrash and howl fruitlessly, and [member="Legion"] was worried about a box full of insects. Antera turned and ran after her, and more of the walls and floors began to give way behind her.

Whatever had been under the floor had been supporting far more than just that hallway, or the impact had rattled the foundations of the building to a much greater extent than anticipated. Either way, from the dust and fragments falling from the ceiling even as she rounded the corner to the main hall it was clear this place was not remaining standing for much longer.

Another chunk of stone crashed to the floor not much farther from her, landing between her and the young sithspawn. She changed course, moving around the weakened section of floor and darting around towards the entrance, "Come on! This place is coming apart!"

 

[Legion]

Legion's scream pierced the air yet again as the debris crashed down between the two women, her hands shaking as she skidded to a stop in front of the terrarium. She scooped up the rectangular glass case, holding it tightly before turning on her heel to nod a few times to @Antera.

"Y-Yes, I am ready-- ah!"

There was no time to catch her breath any further, however, and she squinted to keep the crumbling dust and grinding stone out of her vision as she sprinted towards the entrance after her Chiss companion. Her heart felt like a trapped bird slamming against her rib cage, her head buzzing with the same fear that made her stomach knot. The danger of being crushed to death or worse, trapped inside of the collapsing temple, was enough to spur her on despite her fatigue.

Legion couldn't allow the echoes of darkness within the temple to feed on despair and death this one last time. She and Antera would escape ... they simply had to.

 

[Antera]

The dark side clung to her mind as she ran, doubt and fear worrying their way into her consciousness.

Don't struggle.

Give up.

Let it end.

None of these thoughts are mine. Be strong. You're almost there. She grit her teeth and ran harder. More stones fell before her, she shifted, avoiding the impacts of the crumbling ceiling. As she neared the door, she was suddenly overwhelmed by an urge to stop, throwing an arm out to keep Legion from advancing further either. A split second later, the space in front of them collapsed. A massive cloud of dust swept over the pair, and where a solid stone surface had been, a statue laid collapsed before them.

She coughed, shaking her head as she attempted to get her bearings again. The door was blocked, but there was still daylight flowing through the dust from...

There!

"This way!" she ran for the light, stumbling over broken rocks and through dust. A break in the wall, torn down by the fallen statue. She scrambled between the stones and nearly tripped over herself once her feet were back on solid earth and grass. She didn't stop running until she reached the perimeter wall.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

"Ah?" Legion panted breathlessly as [member="Antera"] extended an arm, coming to a jarring stop that made her squeeze her terrarium even tighter against her chest. At some point during all this running for her life business, her cowl had fallen, her horns and a frazzled cascade of ivory curls framing her face.

The crash of the statue before her made the girl squeal, her eyes going wide, and she recoiled back a few steps even as the dust fell, temporarily blinding her and filling her lungs. Her eyes welled with tears as she blinked away the ancient particles, coughing while shakily trying to follow after the Chiss who had just saved her life once again. Who was she? The thought barely had time to skitter across the sithspawn's consciousness as she broke into a run, only pausing when her feet brushed over the grass outside of the doomed temple.

You belong here. Someday you will be Sith. This is your heritage.

Legion took a step back, her vision swimming for a moment. It felt impossible to take another step, as if a multitude of unseen hands were clawing at her robe, trying to drag her back into the depths of the rubble. It was only the panic welling up inside of her that made her teeth grit, her grasp tightening still more on the terrarium in her arms, wrestling with the dark side to be able to take a single step. She had to find the will to break free, not only of the temple, but of her old life - if she escaped, it would be permanent.

"N-No ... l-let go of me!" she hissed, shaking and shrugging, bodily forcing herself out of the ghostly grip. Her eyes were wide with terror as she raced after her acquaintance's silhouette, so shaken by the entire experience that she hardly noticed her garden or thought of how she'd likely never see it again.

Right now, she just wanted to be as far away from the forgotten place of power as her body would take her.

 

[Antera]

Antera placed one hand flat against the wall, leaning forward slightly as she fought to catch her breath. Some part of her wanted to vomit, but whether from exertion, stress, or the palpable aura of the dark so close, she took a deep breath and resisted the impulse. She turned and glanced back behind herself. The walls and ceiling of the structure were broken beyond any hope of repair, and she could just barely feel the slight shifting in the ground as more chunks of the building continued to fall into the ritual chamber below.

The thought that that thing might still be alive in there sent a wave of revulsion through her spine, and she found herself with absolutely no desire to remain here. She steadied herself and prepared to leave, and then her eyes fell on [member="Legion"] once again.

Horns, claws, yellow eyes, scales, and clutching her collection of bugs as if her very existence depended on it. All caked in a thick layer of gray dust, which the chiss assumed likely covered her as well. She was wide-eyed and afraid, glancing around the destroyed temple grounds like an utterly lost puppy.

... Hell.

She shook her head, checking over herself for a moment. Other than some scrapes and a slight burn in her throat and sinuses, she appeared unharmed. She'd lost her gun, but that was easy to replace. The girl, however... what to do about her.

She was a Sithspawn, and clearly had some connection to the Force. She'd thought she'd sensed it before, but seeing her feeble attempts to aid their defense confirmed it. She had potential.

She can't stay here. Even if she lived, what if the Sith actually came back?

She chewed on her lip in silence for a moment, letting Legion collect herself as she weighed her options.

It didn't take her very long to make up her mind.

She turned towards Legion again, clicking her tongue once and giving her another quick once over for any potential injury before speaking, "Come on. My ship's not far. Let's get you out of here. Got anywhere you wanna go?"

 

[Legion]

An immediate sense of relief washed over the girl as she stood behind [member="Antera"], her head lolling back as she eased to her knees, hugging her precious collection of native insects. It was all too much and for a moment, just a moment, she missed her mother. Not that the Sith would have had anything kind or comforting to say about the situation or how her daughter had handled it, but the girl longed for a familiar face or at least something stable. Disir's reaction to the fall of the temple didn't even cross her mind. She sniffled, thankful to be alive, her eyes closed tightly for several long moments to keep from openly weeping in front of a near-stranger.

Physically, at least, she was unharmed save for the fatigue of an unusual amount of exercise and the slight stinging in her eyes and throat from the dust and the running. The adrenaline in her body seemed to dissipate all at once and Legion found herself longing for a warm place to sleep. Her head perked up, however, as the Chiss woman spoke to her and she blinked back the majority of her tangled mess of emotions for the time being.

"I... y-you are going to t-take me with you?" she inquired tentatively, her head tilting. "I d-do not wish to impose... I can s-survive here." She even managed to muster up a smile, though if there was anything Legion was truly terrible at, it was deception.

Remaining in this forsaken place was certainly the last thing she wanted to do, but being a burden on a woman she'd just met who had saved her life? That was unthinkable.

 

[Velok the Younger]

@Antera @Legion

Upon reaching a rendezvous point, Antera and her associate would find themselves met by an Ewok. In exchange for the fragment of the Taurannik Codex, the Ewok would offer a briefcase containing two long coats of terentatek hide, and a hundred thousand credits. AEL rewarded its contractors handsomely.

 

[Antera]

"Survive how? The only shelter around for kilometers just fell in on itself and re-buried... something I've never seen before in my life. My ship's in a clearing a couple clicks from here. We can get there before dark if we start now."

She stepped closer, offering a hand to the kneeling girl, "I didn't drag you out of that pit just to leave you high and dry with nothing. Least I can do for all your help is get you someplace safer."

Between her tired, but authoritative, tone and posture, it was clear that 'no' was not going to be considered a valid answer.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

The smile that crept across Legion's face this time was genuine and again her eyes closed, this time to give [member="Antera"] an earnestly grateful bow of her head.

"Th-Thank you, Miss Antera. You are very k-kind," she responded, her own voice little more than a whisper.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so drained and so she couldn't offer any further resistance to the other woman's offer. Not that she truly wanted to, anyway. Legion accepted the Chiss's hand, carefully getting to her feet while keeping her terrarium securely held against her chest. Hopefully the specimens within could forgive her for the rough jostling they'd had.

Relief gave way to tentative excitement. An unfamiliar ship and an offer to go wherever she preferred! But the question now was: where did she prefer?

"Ehm... I-I do not know. You c-can take me to the spaceport and I c-can find somewhere to go from there..."

 

[Antera]

"Just worry about getting there for now... we'll figure something out later," she took a few tired steps towards the opening in the wall she'd originally entered through, slipping through and back to the forest. She assisted [member="Legion"] with the terrarium with a slight frown.

Somarae... what are you getting yourself into.

Thankfully, the return to the Carcosa wasn't eventful. After everything else, she may not have had any energy left.

--------------------------

Back in space and well after the Sithspawn had finally been convinced she could claim a bunk, Antera settled into her computer terminal and wrote a quick report, sending it through the appropriate Inquisitorial ciphers and bouncing through proxies across the holonet before it would arrive awaiting inspection by one [member=Je'gan Olra'en].

Tracked fragment of Taurannik Codex for anonymous buyer. Attempting to confirm ID. Site defended by exceedingly unusual Sithspawn. Details and coordinates follow...

--------------------------

Needless to say Legion was not dropped off before the rendezvous. Antera accepted her payment with a minimum of haggling, but left a note with the Ewok. If its boss wanted the codex, there was every chance they'd like to hear more about exactly where the place was, and what she'd found there...

[member="Rave Merrill"]